The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured stunning images of a light echo created by a supernova explosion in the constellation Cassiopeia that occurred around 350 years ago. The supernova's powerful energy illuminated a cloud of interstellar gas and dust, creating a visible trail of light that reveals the 3D structure of the material. JWST's infrared capabilities allow it to penetrate through dust that would obscure visible light, providing unprecedented details about the aftermath of the stellar explosion.
Supernovae are one of the most useful events in all of astronomy. Scientists can directly measure their power, their spin, and their eventual fallout, whether that’s turning into a black hole or a neutron star in some cases or just a much smaller stellar remnant. One of these events happened around 350 years ago in the constellation Cassiopeia.
A light echo can be thought of as a giant photographer’s bulb. A bright flash travels in an ever-extending sphere outwards, gradually illuminating everything in its path, then moving on and leaving the objects it just passed back in darkness. As the material is illuminated, telescopes back on Earth can see this otherwise invisible matter existing in the interstellar medium.
Spitzer, one of NASA’s great observatories that ended its observations in 2020, examined this same clump of gas and dust back in 2008. Its image was fascinating but not as complete as the one by its successor, JWST. Another feature of the image is described as “knots in wood grain” in a press release from the Webb telescope researchers. It also twists and moves over months as if dragged by some invisible force.
SUPERNOE SPACE TELESCOPE INTERSTELLAR GAS LIGHT ECHO INFRARED ASTRONOMY
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